The Scouts movement's leadership initially said longstanding volunteer Nir Ben-Zvi was dismissed over a post accusing Minister Yoav Kisch of 'declaring war on the secular public,' which 'contradicts the spirit of the Scouts movement,' only to later backtrack to a technical reason for his dismissal
The Israeli Scouts movement has dismissed one of its longtime volunteers after he published a Facebook post accusing Education Minister Yoav Kisch of trying to impose religious education on secular students.
Nir Ben-Zvi, from the Hefer Valley, was released from his role as head of two scout tribes in Hadera, following several positions he has held in his thirteen years of volunteering for The Hebrew Scouts Movement in Israel (Typically abbreviated in Hebrew as HaTzofim).
Back in May, Ben-Zvi posted a message on his personal Facebook page, in which he sharply criticized Kisch's unveiling of the "Roots" program, a sweeping initiative to increase Bible studies and Jewish heritage content in public schools, at the expense of other subjects.
On May 29, Ben-Zvi wrote on Facebook that "The Czar of Re-Education published his mega religionization plan" that day. Quoting Kisch's own words, Ben-Zvi added that the plan was "led by his position that 'it is no longer possible to leave Jewish identity as a matter of local choice or personal preference.'"
